News Details

Smoky Hollow Technical Assistance Panel

Request for Stakeholder Participation

The City of El Segundo has commissioned the Urban Land Institute to assemble a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) for the purpose of studying existing development patterns within the Smoky Hollow area and to provide recommendations on how to encourage, control and guide future development within the area.

The TAP comprises a group of industry experts not affiliated with the City or current development in the Smoky Hollow area. The group members have expertise in a wide variety of development and real estate fields that will collectively formulate a strategy focused at making comprehensive changes to City policies for the Smoky Hollow area.

One of TAP's focus areas will be to confer with stakeholders in order to have a better understanding of what the City can do to encourage the "right type" of development that improves the area, responds to market forces and creates the sense of a unique mixed office/industrial district. The study will evaluate existing uses and the impacts of lot size, parking and neighborhood compatibility.

Specific questions the TAP will address are:

1.Within the area, what uses should be encouraged and where should they be located within the area?

2.Given the relatively small lot sizes, what can the City do to help address the higher parking demand of commercial uses? Can streets be converted to one-way to increase on-street parking?

3.What can the City do to improve the identity / brand of the district and attract tenants and owners?

4.How should the district relate to the surrounding land uses, Chevron refinery, the El Segundo downtown, adjacent residential and Sepulveda / PCH commercial frontage?

5.Is there a financing tool available to make public improvements or for the City to purchase property for parking and blight removal? How can the City encourage reinvestment in properties?

The City would like to identify approximately 6 to 8 key stakeholders intimately familiar with the Smoky Hollow area that are willing to provide input to the TAP during an individual brief interview. These interviews will be held on March 30th between 8-10 AM. At the conclusion of the TAP's fact-finding sessions, a presentation of findings will be made. This presentation is open to the public and your presence is strongly encouraged. The presentation will be made on March 30th at 4:30pm held at the Embassy Suites (1440 E. Imperial Avenue El Segundo, CA 90245). The City values your opinion and encourages you to participate by completing a survey and returning it for inclusion into the TAP review. Please return completed survey by March 12, 2012 to: El Segundo City Hall Economic Development Department 350 Main Street El Segundo, CA 90245 or via email at tshove@elsegundo.org. If you have any questions and/or would like to be considered as a stakeholder participant, please feel free to contact Ted Shove at (310) 524-2359.